MovieChat Forums > Nightcrawler (2014) Discussion > Jake Gyllenhaal's performance: NBD, real...

Jake Gyllenhaal's performance: NBD, really.

posted 9 years ago by Allenism
13 replies | jump to latest

 Anyone else find his performance rather superficial and self-conscious? There's more to characterization than opening your eyes extra-wide and delivering your dialogue like a cartoon character. I think part of the problem lies with the way Lou is written--there isn't much nuance to his motivations and he's painted as an antihero without any concrete insight into how his mind is working.

I generally like Gyllenhaal enough as an actor, but considering the hyperbolic praise that was lavished upon this performance, I was expecting a lot more. What I mostly saw was a performer who tore through the Method Actor's Handbook and tried to employ as many tricks as possible without truly inhabiting the essence of his character.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opcKTe7ePgk 

[–] TxMike 9 years ago

What is interesting is how different viewers can see the same thing and come away with polar opposite reactions. I see you are a great fan of certain actors in certain roles, including Dean, De Niro, Nicholson, and Pacino. Not necessarily in their specific roles you cite but each of them has "opened their eyes extra-wide and delivered their dialogue like a cartoon character" to many fans. It happens to almost all actors if you are in that frame of mind to see it that way.

I think your reaction to Gyllenhaal's performance in 'Nightcrawler' is at least a bit harsh. What I see is a performance that is both too real and too scary because we know there really are people like that among us. I think Jake played it just right.

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Make a choice, to take a chance, to make a difference.

[–] freakinflax 9 years ago

He changed his voice, lost weight and put his all into every nuance of the character. Obviously it couldn't meet your expectations.

[–] simontatt 9 years ago

I agree. Not his best effort by far. I generally like his acting though.

[–] simontatt 9 years ago

Why was it important for him to lose weight for the role? What's weight loss got to do with it?

[–] Sparty627 9 years ago

Why was it important for him to lose weight for the role? What's weight loss got to do with it?

When an actor, physically looks different combined with good acting, it helps to see the character and not the actor. Arnold, Sly, Tom Cruise, Leonardo D., and many others always look the same, and it's hard to get past the actor to see the character. Another actor who does this well is Tom Hardy.

The Almighty says "don't change the subject, just answer the fuggin question."

[–] KingCobra686 8 years ago

Also Christian Bale, especially in Machinist.

Gyllenhaal put on a ton of muscle and weight for Southpaw and it made a difference there too. If he always looked like that you would just see his character as normal Gyllenhaal, but when he makes those physical changes it indirectly makes the character seem much more muscular.

[–] TheDarkContinent00 9 years ago

Lou's character works better without a backstory.

[–] juanarturo_2000 9 years ago

He played a psychopath to a t.

[–] jokeco68 9 years ago

I get a sense that you would have liked Gyllenhaal more if his character got his just reward at the end. It was a good performance, he definitely gave off a creepy, obsessed sense of determination.

Life is always intense for a repo man.

[–] wembleton 8 years ago

Nice to see someone else who agrees with me. It seemed pretty obvious to me that he was using coke throughout filming, to lose weight and to give off that creepy jittery vibe. You can't method act your way to extremely glassy eyes and that jitter

People seem to be pretty naive that coke is consumed like candy bars in hollywood... many, if not most actors use stimulants of some kind

Generally speaking I think Gyllenhaal is pretty mediocre at best; I never forget that I'm watching him playing a role... imo he never really inhabits his characters. he just doesn't have that gift

[–] fabiovasconcllos 8 years ago

Generally speaking I think Gyllenhaal is pretty mediocre at best; I never forget that I'm watching him playing a role... imo he never really inhabits his characters. he just doesn't have that gift

Congratulations
I have this account almost seven years on IMDB, and this is probably the most stupid comment I read here.
he deserved a oscar nomination for that role.